How Did She Do That #2?
FAUX TILE CREATIONS
Using faux ceiling tile from the Dollar Tree ($1.25 now) is such a fun and easy project for you to try. I found it very easy, but very time consuming as you will find out as you read further. There are many options on how to do this, but this is my way...
LIST OF SUPPLIES:
Faux Ceiling Tile - The Dollar Tree
Wood Cutout - Cut yourself or purchased
Sander or Sandpaper
E-6000 Glue or Hot Glue Gun - You will see why I prefer the E-6000 Glue
Acrylic Paints and/or Spray Paint
Tiny Sharp Scissors and Regular Scissors
Decorations of your choice
STEP 1: Find or draw the pattern you want. I found this candy cane shape that I liked. I use Affinity Photo to make it the size I want. First I go to removebg.com to remove the background from my candy cane shape. I open Affinity Photo, choose NEW and size my project as 12 by 12 Inches because that is the size of my faux tile. Then place my candy cane into my project and resize it to fit the 12 by 12 inch frame. I realized that I could get two candy canes on the frame. So I copied the first one and pasted it into my Affinity Photo frame. Now I know I can cut two wood candy canes for the one faux tile. I don't want to be wasteful...
I did flip the second candy cane to fit the frame better. The above picture is what my Affinity Photo looked like before I divided it in half to print on legal size paper. My printer only prints 8 1/2 by 14 as the largest and I wanted my candy canes to be as big as they can be. If you look at the photo above, you will see the tip of the second candy cane where I divided my frame in half.
STEP #2: Now that we have printed our pattern it is time to trace it onto our wood to be cut.
I used 1/4 inch plywood for this project. I love the cutting process. Remember you can also use precut wood cutouts for your project. But, if you are lucky enough to have a bandsaw or scroll saw...have fun cutting!!!
STEP #3: Cut away...
As you can see I have cut out my candy canes as well as a Christmas Tree, Star, and Acorn. Ready for...
STEP #4: Sand your project especially the edges and then brush them clean of dust. This is important because when you paint you don't want the dust to leave bumps in your project. So, brush really well. I use a large paint brush for brushing, which you can barely see in the photo below.
My pieces are all sanded and brushed clean. They are now ready to leave my garage (workshop) to my enclosed porch (workroom) for the next steps.
STEP #5: Time to trace your wood cutout onto your faux tile. Be sure to turn your tile over and place your wood cutout onto your tile. Because the backing of your tile is shiny smooth, it is best to trace your wood cutout with a Sharpie.
I found if I turned the second candy cane around it would fit better on my tile. Since I cut TWO candy canes, I wanted to make sure the right tracing went with the right candy cane, so I numbered (1) both as you can see below. When you cut your own wood cutouts they are never perfect, but they will be close.
STEP #6: Now you are going to cutout your tile.
As you can see in the photo above the backing is off the candy cane. The faux tiles only have the sticky stuff around the edges, therefore, you will need some strong glue for the next step...
STEP #7: Glueing your faux tile to your wood cutout.
Some crafters like using a hot glue gun to keep things together. Yes, the glue sticks are cheap and the glue dries quickly, but I have found that cheap and quick isn't always the best. I personally will only use E-6000 glue because I know my pieces will not come apart. It does take more time for the glue to dry, but in the end I know my customers are not going to be disappointed because something fell off the piece they purchased. E-6000 glue is also more expensive than glue sticks. I would rather be safe than sorry. I want happy customers, not upset ones.
The photo above shows how I put the E-6000 glue on my wood then carefully apply my faux tile. I try to line up everything to the best of my ability while pressing down everywhere on the the wood cutout. Let dry.
STEP #8: Trimming the edges of the wood cutout. I try to cut my wood cutouts perfectly, but it doesn't alway work out that way. I may need to trim some of my faux tile as you will see in the photos below.
I hope you noticed the small pointy and sharp scissors in the photo above. I found that these work easier to trim the faux tile. Sometimes you may need to use an X-Acto (craft) knife to get into the curved areas.
STEP #9: It is now time to paint our piece. For my candy canes I decided to spray paint the background white. I sprayed the front and sides, let dry, then sprayed the back. If you look close you can see that I propped up the candy canes to make it easier to spray the sides. Once the front and sides are dry, I will check the sides to see if I missed any place. If so, then when I spray the back I will fix the side where I missed the first time. Let dry.
STEP #10: Now it is time to decorate or paint your almost finished piece. I think it will be hard to paint red stripes on my candy canes due to the unevenness of the faux texture, so I will just add color with some Christmas, or holiday stuff using my E-6000 glue and creativity...
STEP #11: Once your paint is dry, flip your piece over and add your hanger.
To affix my sawtooth hanger, I put a dot of E-6000 glue on each end and then place it where it needs to go. I then put another dot of E-6000 glue on each end then cover that spot with a bling. I then press the bling down to make sure my sawtooth hanger is going to stay...Let dry before the next step.
STEP #12: It is time to decorate your piece. There are so many different ways to do this. I have chosen to make my candy canes just simple, elegant wall art pieces that would fit nicely anywhere in anyone's home during the holidays.
I made a simple bow and then glued (E-6000 glue) on a sparkly snowflake for an elegant touch. Using the same glue I glued on the bow to the candy can and then waited for them to dry. Every now and then, I went over to press down on the bow as it was drying to make sure it was going to stay on the candy cane.
Now that they are finished and ready to hang I hope that you have enjoyed this blog and are ready to give this a try for yourself. HAPPY CRAFTING!!! Judy
PS: Save your Faux Ceiling Tile Scrapes. You can make other things with them!
This is what my finished SCRAPS look like now...
PSS: I am going to share some other items I have made using this same method...
Here is a link to this collection should you wish to purchase one...https://jamscraftcloset.com/collections/faux-ceiling-tile-wall-art
That's All For Now Folks!!! Judy - HAPPY SHOPPING and CRAFTING!!!